


Taker, Devil's Maker

by orphan_account



Category: Batman (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Bruce Wayne tries to be a good dad, Damian Wayne Feels, Damian Wayne Needs a Hug, Damian Wayne is Nightwing, Dysfunctional Family, Gen, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-26
Updated: 2019-09-11
Packaged: 2020-07-20 12:01:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19991842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Damian is twenty years old and full of regrets. However, when a freak accident lands him ten years in the past, he has to decide whether he'd be willing to give up his future to fix his past.





	1. Prologue

Damian sees a flash of yellow out of the corner of his eye. 

“Signal. What brings you here?” He addresses the other hero without taking his eyes off the abandoned warehouse he’s been monitoring all night.

“Do I need a reason to visit my brother?” Duke’s voice is deeper than Damian remembers. Damian supposes it makes sense, after all, he hasn’t seen Duke in a while.

“No one else visits.” Damian finally turns to look at Duke. His costume has changed a bit. The armor is less bulky, and the yellow is a slightly different shade.

Duke winces at Damian’s words. He knows they’re true. None of the family ever comes to see Damian. Not after. Not after what happened. And Damian knows it’s fair. He knows he’s at fault for everything. But, and he would never admit this if asked, he misses them.

“Well, that doesn’t mean I can’t.” Duke is trying and failing to sound cheerful. Damian appreciates the effort.

“Why are you really here?” Damian asks. Duke sighs and sits down next to him.

“You should see him.”

“No. Absolutely not.” Damian stands up. The roof shifts slightly from the sudden movement. He probably should have chosen a more secure lookout.

“Nightwing…”

“I- I can’t. It’s my fault. He probably blames me.”

Duke stands up as well. He’s still taller than Damian. “You know that’s not true. Look, we all made mistakes that night. You can’t put this all on yourself.”

“I’m the one who rushed in and got kidnapped. I’m the one who was used as bait.” Damian suddenly can’t look at Duke. He glances down at his hands instead. They’re missing the finger stripes that Grayson had loved so much.

“And we should have sent in backup sooner. We should have realized it was a trap.” Duke counters. Damian hates him. He hates that Duke is still here, that he won’t just  _ give up _ on Damian like everybody else.

Damian starts to leave, there hasn’t been any movement in the warehouse anyway, but is stopped by a hand on his shoulder. 

“Come on man. I really do miss you. Why don’t we watch a movie or something? I’ve heard Shrek 8 is good.” 

Damian looks back at Duke. He’d missed him too. And maybe everything in Damian’s life is horrible right now, but spending time with his brother probably won’t make it worse.

Damian sighs. “TT, fine. Wait at my apartment. I’ll be there in around 15 minutes. I just need to wrap things up.”

Duke smiles then. A wide, genuine smile. Damian can’t help but feel warmed by it.

“Yes! Sounds great.” And with that he leaves.

Damian waits on the rooftop for five more minutes before deciding that his informant was wrong about whatever “shady” activity that’s supposed to be happening here. However, as soon as he turns to leave, he sees a bright flash of white light come from the inside of the warehouse.

Damian rushes to the warehouse and kicks in the door. He looks around and spots… no one. That’s strange. There is scientific equipment lying on the floor and coffee mugs scattered on various surfaces, (everything is covered in ashes for some reason), but there doesn’t appear to be anyone there. Damian wonders for a moment if they’re using tech like Maya’s, but any invisible person would probably have attacked already. 

A strangely shaped device catches Damian’s attention. It’s red and looks like a square pocket watch with buttons running around the sides. Damian picks it up to examine it, careful not to press any of the buttons.

Suddenly Damian hears a sound from behind him. He turns around and spots something he’d missed before. There, in a corner almost completely covered by shadow, is a young girl, maybe four or five. The sound must have been from her sobbing.

Damian slowly walks over to the girl, making sure to telegraph his movements. When he reaches the girl, he crouches down in front of her.

“Hello, my name is Nightwing. What’s your name?” Damian speaks softly, not wanting to scare the child even more.

The girl stops sobbing and looks at Damian curiously. After a few minutes, she finally talks. “My name’s Divya. Are you a superhero?”

“Yeah, I am. See.” Damian points to the blue symbol on his chest.

“Amma says I shouldn’t talk to any heroes. She says they’re bad news.”

“TT. Well I’m not like the other heroes. I’m here to help. Why don’t you tell me what happened here?”

Divya almost looks like she’s going to start crying again, but she manages to speak. “Amma was doing some importan’ work with her friends. They were all staring at that thing.” Divya points to the device that Damian is holding. “Then Amma pressed a button and everyone ‘cept me ‘sploded.”

Damian looks around the warehouse again. He has a suspicion where the ashes came from. 

He turns back to Divya. She’s gone back to sobbing. Damian gently lays a hand on her shoulder.

“Hey, I’m going to get you out of here. Is it okay if I carry you?”

Divya nods and Damian picks her up with one arm. He makes sure to keep a tight grip on the device with his other hand. If this thing can incinerate people with a single button, who knows what else it can do.

Damian and Divya pass a work table. On it is a pair of glasses. Several things happen.

Divya sees the glasses and jumps out of Damian’s arm, screaming, “Amma!” Damian is taken by surprise and feels himself wobble. As he does, the device falls out of his hand and lights up.

“Run!” Damian screams at Divya. Thankfully she listens, grabbing the glasses and sprinting out of the warehouse. 

Damian looks at the door, he won’t be able to make it out in time. The light from the device gets brighter and turns blue. Then the light is surrounding Damian. His last thought before losing consciousness is that he won’t be able to meet Duke for the movie.


	2. Chapter 1

Truth be told, Dick is kind of bored. Bruce had called him here earlier that night to ask for help on a case. Some sort of drug smuggling ring. But as it turns out, “help” means waiting for hours for results on some tests before they can actually go and take down the ring.

The only other person in the cave is Tim, who seems to be doing some kind of schoolwork. According to Bruce, Tim’s been spending a lot of time down in the cave lately. Probably avoiding the newest addition to the family. Dick can’t blame him. From what he’s heard, the brat actually tried to kill Tim.

While Dick is lounging in a chair, wishing for  _ anything _ to do, a call comes in over the comms.

_ “Black Bat to cave. I have a situation.” _

Dick immediately sits up. “Black Bat, this is Nightwing. What’s the situation? Do you need backup?”

When Cass replies, she sounds almost hesitant.  _ “No. I’m coming to the cave. This will be easier to show you in person.” _

Dick is relieved and a little nervous. He quickly gets up and informs Bruce and Tim of the conversation.

A few minutes later, Cass enters the cave. In her arms is… an unconscious man. Maybe a few years younger than Dick. But that’s not what catches Dick’s attention.

The man is wearing a Nightwing costume. It’s almost the same as Dick’s, with only a few notable changes. Is the man a cosplayer of some sort? But no, something tells Dick that’s not it. The costume is way too detailed to be a fake. So then, what’s going on?

“Black Bat, report.” Bruce growls..

“I found him on the docks. Unconscious. I was going to take him to a hospital. But then I saw his costume. And his tech.” Cass tosses Bruce an escrima stick. Dick moves closer to see it. It looks way more advanced than the ones he currently has.

Before Bruce can reply, the man wakes up. He groans and jumps out of Cass’ arms, immediately getting into a defensive stance.

“What’s going on? Where am I?” The man scans the room. When he sees Dick, his eyes widen almost imperceptibly. The tension drains from his shoulders and he stands up.

“TT, I see,” The man’s voice is calmer now. It sounds almost familiar for some reason, “Then I have returned.”

“Where do you think you are?” Dick asks. He knows he shouldn’t be talking to this imposter(?), but he’s curious.

“Hell. Obviously.”

Dick and Tim share a look. The man must be off his rocker.

“This isn’t Hell,” Bruce replies seriously. Dick fights back the urge to laugh, “This is the Batcave. Black Bat found you unconscious on the docks. Now why don’t you tell us who you are, and why you’re wearing that uniform.” 

The man looks like he doesn’t believe them. Which is- why does the man think Hell is more plausible than the Batcave?

After a few seconds, the man replies. “This can’t be the Batcave. It looks like it hasn’t been upgraded in years. And why would I be on the docks of Gotham when I clearly remember being in a warehouse in- TT, that’s it.” The man pulls some sort of comm device out of his pocket and starts whispering into it. He puts it away when he doesn’t get any response.

“What is it?” Bruce asks. 

“In- where I was before, there was a device. It must have done something to me. I assumed it would kill me, but perhaps I was incorrect.”

“And where were you before?” Bruce doesn’t look it, but Dick knows he’s uncertain of whether or not to believe the man.

“Bl üdhaven. What must have been…. Well Drake is still Robin, but the batmobile only looks a few generations older. So, I am from ten years in the future.”

Before anyone else can speak, Tim screams out. “How do you know my secret identity.”

“TT. Must I repeat myself. I am from the future. I am aware of everyone’s secret identity.” The man spins around, pointing to each of them. “Bruce Wayne, Cassandra Cain, Timothy Drake, and Richard Grayson. I also know that the Red Hood is Jason Todd, Oracle is Barbara Gordon, Spoiler is Stephanie Brown, Batwoman is Katherine Kane, and S- well I suppose he’s not a vigilante yet.”

Dick is a little bit in shock at this man who just revealed their secret identities so easily. Maybe he really is from the future. After all, In their line of work, time travel mishaps aren’t exactly uncommon. But if it really is true, then why had another person taken up Dick’s mantle.

There’s a long silence, during which Dick looks to Cass for confirmation. If the man was lying, then she would be able to tell from his body language. She nods her head. So either the man is really telling the truth, or he believes he’s telling the truth.

Finally, Bruce says. “You know all of our identities, so why not share yours?”

The man shrugs. “I’d prefer to avoid messing with the timestream any more than necessary. If you must call me something, I will go by Redbird.”

Tim gives the ma- Redbird an odd look, and Dick suddenly remembers that that’s the name of Tim’s car. How strange. Bruce obviously doesn’t miss it either, since he tenses slightly.

Redbird just taps his foot impatiently. “Are you going to assist me in getting back to my own time, or do I have to do everything myself?”

Bruce growls and walks up to Redbird. They start talking about time travel, and watches, and buttons as they move deeper into the cave. Dick walks over to Tim and Cassandra.

“So who do you think Redbird is?” He asks them.

“He looks like Bruce.” Tim replies.

And yeah, Redbird and Bruce look a lot alike. It’s almost like they could be related. Like Redbird could be Bruce’s son. But if Redbird is 20 years old, like Dick suspected, and he’s from ten years in the future, then he would be ten right now. Which… wait a minute.

“He moves like an assassin.” Cass adds.

And that settles it. If Redbird is Bruce’s son from the future. Who would currently be ten years old. Who moves like an assassin. Who, now that Dick is thinking about it, also resembles Talia. Then….

Tim and Cass must realize Dick has figured it out, since they look at him expectantly. But Dick waves them off. Because, if Dick is right, then that means….

Redbird is Damian Wayne. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea where this is going. Also I may reveal what happened to Dick, and why Damian's Nightwing next chapter. But no promises. Btw if anyone wants to chat about Batman or anything, my tumblr is @lets-garlic-this-bread


	3. Chapter 2

“You’re Damian.” It’s clear it’s a statement, not a question. Damian looks up at his Father. There’s no point in attempting to lie to him.

“Yes. You must be losing your touch, I believe Grayson figured it out before you.”

“Why?” And Damian hates the look on Father’s face. It’s a mix of confusion and surprise and wariness. He hasn’t seen that look in years. In Damian’s time, Father might not be able to look him in the eyes anymore. But at least Father  _ trusts  _ him. 

“Why did I stay with you? Why haven’t I crawled back to Mother? Why am I not a villain? After all, everyone knows there are no circumstances under which I remain a hero. Isn’t that right,  _ Father _ .”

Damian’s voice is louder than he wants it to be. The other occupants of the cave turn to look at him. Great. If Cassandra and Timothy hadn’t figured out his identity before, then they definitely know it now.

“Damian….” Father’s voice is soft, like talking to a cornered animal. Damian somehow hates this more than the distrustful look.

Damian runs a hand over his face, a habit he must have picked up from one of his siblings. He didn’t mean to have an outburst. Being here, in this time is messing with his head. Digging up issues he’d buried long ago. The sooner he gets back to his own time, the better. “I apologize, that was uncalled for. Just… have you figured out how to get me home?”

Father’s expression says that the conversation is not over. Joy. “We’re still looking for a match on the device you described. Until we find out what it is, there’s not much we can do.”

They fall into an uneasy silence. Damian can tell Richard wants to talk to him, but he can’t do it. He can barely even stand to look at Richard. Not after- after everything. Damian can still remember the deranged cackle of the Joker and the crack of a gunshot. And how it was all his fau-. Anyways, it would be best to avoid Richard for the time being.

Damian wonders if anyone from his time will come after him. Maybe Duke will get worried when Damian never shows up at the apartment. Or maybe he’ll just think Damian decided to blow him off. And it’s not like anyone else even cares enough to notice if Damian is missing.

The silence is finally interrupted by the sound of footsteps on the stairs. Damian recognizes the light tread as Alfred’s.

“Master Bruce, you and the children have been shut in all night. I must insist that all of you come and eat breakfast. And-” Alfred finally catches sight of Damian. This is one of the only times Damian has ever seen Alfred actually look surprised.

“Who is this? I do believe Master Damian is still asleep upstairs.”

Which-. One, it makes sense that Father and Damian’s siblings would figure out his identity. After all, they  _ are  _ detectives. But Alfred, really? Has Damian really not changed that much in ten years. And two, if Damian knows himself at all, there’s no way that his younger self is sleeping. He’s probably monitoring what’s happening through the bugs he’s planted in the Batcave.

“We have a visitor from the future Alfred.” Father says.

Damian nods at Alfred. He gets a suspicious look in return. Ouch. Father not trusting him is upsetting, but expected. It’s easy for Damian to get over. But Alfred not trusting him, that’s a whole new level of hurtful. 

“Well he is invited to breakfast as well, of course. But Master Bruce, I must tell you. Master Jason has decided to visit as well.”

Damian is totally  _ not  _ in the mood to see more past versions of his siblings. Maybe this is Hell after all. Before he can voice that thought, Father speaks.

“Jason? Why?”

“It seems he got severely injured, and couldn’t think of anywhere else to go. I  _ invited  _ him to stay for breakfast.”

Father groans, but gets up. Everyone follows. Damian pretends he didn’t see the flicker of hope that flashed across his father’s face. Pretends it doesn’t hurt that Father still misses Jason after all that’s happened. That even after his son has sunk so low, he still wants him back. Meanwhile, he cannot accept a son who was raised by the League. But maybe that’s just because Father chose Jason, and Damian was forced upon hi-. No. Damian is  _ over  _ this. He shouldn’t be dwelling.

They walk in silence to the dining table. Everyone takes a seat, and Alfred starts to walk away. It seems that he’s decided to let his “No Costumes in the Manor” rule slip, just this once.

“I shall go wake Master Damian, and bring him here.”

“Wait Alfred. We don’t know if having the two of them near each other will have any affect. Maybe he should eat breakfast in his room today.”

Alfred pauses for only a second before continuing to walk. “Very well.”

Damian looks over at Jason. He seems curious about Bruce’s words. But Jason’s smart, and pieces it together a second later.

“You’re telling me  _ that _ ,” He points at Damian, “Is the demon brat.”

There’s no fondness in the nickname. Damian has to remind himself that it’s not Jason’s fault. That it’s not anybody in the family’s fault. They don’t know him yet. Not really. And Damian had been openly hostile in this time. There’s no reason for them not to hate him.

No one answers Jason, but he must see the answer in their faces.

“Hey Dickhead, how does it feel to know your successor is the spawn of Satan?” Jason chuckles to himself. 

Richard actually winces. Damian kind of wants to scream.

They’re silent for a bit. Father and Jason are glaring at each other, and Richard is picking at his food. Finally, Timothy and Cassandra start to chatter about some inane thing. Damian stares down at the table and blocks out their voices.

This is just all too much. None of them  _ want  _ him here. That’s clear. Which, now that he thinks about it, isn’t so different from his own time. But, for some reason, this hurts more. Maybe Damian should leave and try to figure out some way to get back on his own.

A crash jolts Damian out of his thoughts. He looks up to see that Jason has apparently thrown a glass at the floor. He and Father are engaged in a yelling match.

“I don’t even know why I came here. You’re always the same.”

“Killing people is  _ wrong  _ Jason.”

“Funny that you didn’t seem to have that attitude when the Joker  _ murdered  _ me.”

“You know that there are lines we can’t cross.”

“Oh you’re so high and mighty, you can’t even consider that your way might not be the right way.”

“I know you’re still hung up on-”

“Hung up on what Bruce? The fact that I fucking died? Is that it?”

“You know that’s not what-”   
  


“TT. Enough!” Damian is tired, and exasperated, and this is giving him a headache. “Todd, you’re not the only one here to ever die. Be glad it was only once. And Father, as usual, you fail to see the true problem.” And now everyone is staring at Damian, their expressions ranging from shock to pity.

  
Damian needs air. He needs air right now. He gets up and leaves the Manor, ignoring the calls of his family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I lied, this chapter did not reveal what happened to Dick. But I dropped a hint, so that counts. Also, in case you couldn't tell, I'm kind of projecting my own feelings about my family onto Damian. So lol.


	4. Chapter 3

Damian finds himself in the Wayne family cemetery, staring at the spot where his gravestone will be. There’s nothing there, of course. Damian knows that there won’t be anything for about a year. But still, it feels grounding somehow. And how messed up is he, that the reminder of his own death is  _ grounding _ .

He shouldn’t have done what he did earlier. Shouldn’t have said what he did. Now everyone will have questions. Damian doesn’t want to face the looks of doubt, or worse,  _ pity _ , that everyone will undoubtedly be wearing.

It’s just, Damian has been on edge a lot lately. It’s not even this situation specifically. Ever since that day, he’s closed himself off to the world. Bottled all of his emotions up inside. It’s no wonder he exploded.

Damian remembers what happened, of course he does. He sees it every time he closes his eyes. He had rushed into a situation without assessing it fully and gotten captured by the Joker for his troubles. Richard, the idiot, had come to save him and walked right into a trap. Damian had watched, helpless, as he was shot in the head by the Joker. Backup had arrived eventually, but it was too late. Richard was in a coma. 

For the first few months, they had all thought Richard would wake up. But as time went on, their hope diminished. And it was all Damian’s fault. He knew it and so did the rest of the family. So he had decided to take the coward’s way out. Damian had taken up the Nightwing mantle and left Gotham. Left behind the blame and the pity. He hadn’t visited since. 

_ This is immature _ , Damian thinks,  _ I am acting like a child _ . He stares again at the empty plot of land and wonders what he could change. Who he could save. But no. Messing with the time stream could have disastrous effects. That’s been drilled into his head enough times by Father.

Damian sighs and gets up. He won’t find his way home by sulking. As he walks back to the manor, he carefully does not think about the differences between now and his time.

The first thing Damian hears upon nearing the dining room is yelling. Of course.

Damian enters the room and sees Father and Jason yelling at each other again. Richard and Timothy are having a silent conversation. Cassandra is ignoring everyone and scrolling through her phone. Damian clears his throat to get their attention. Everyone falls silent. 

“Any progress on locating the device?” He hopes they’ll take his cue and pretend that nothing happened.

“Not yet. We need to talk.” No such luck. Father’s expression is stern and Damian almost considers leaving again, but no. No running.

Damian sighs and takes a seat. “Alright. But I will not answer any questions that may endanger the timeline.”

Father nods. “Have you actually died?” Jason scoffs, but remains silent.

Of course that would be the question. “Yes, multiple times. But before you ask, I’m not sharing any details.”

Timothy asks the next question, which is surprising. If Damian has his timelines right, then Timothy should hate him at this point. “Why are you Nightwing?”

There’s a hint of suspicion in his tone, which is fair, but still annoys Damian. “TT. It’s not like I killed Grayson.” And now everyone looks suspicious of him, even Cassandra. Great. “He became… indisposed and I took over.”

“Indisposed how?” Richard blurts out.

“I can’t answer that.” Damian replies. Richard’s face pales.

Before anyone else can question Damian, there’s a scream, followed by a loud  _ bang _ from upstairs. They all look at each other before rushing to the source of the noise. Once they get upstairs, they find a room door open. Damian recognizes it as his old one.

Damian and Father carefully enter the room. Everyone else waits outside. The first thing Damian notices is that the room is a mess. Papers are scattered haphazardly. Damian’s weapons are strewn across the floor. And the bedsheets are all tangled up. It looks like a hurricane swept through the room. Which is strange. Damian would never leave his room in such a state.

The second thing Damian notices is Alfred. He’s lying on the floor, unconscious. The tray of food is upside down beside him. He doesn’t seem to have any visible injuries. Damian crouches in front of Alfred and gently shakes him.

“Pennyworth. Pennyworth, wake up.” Alfred groans and slowly becomes conscious. Damian offers him a hand and helps him stand up.

“Alfred, what happened?”

“Master Damian took much longer than usual to wake up today. When he finally did, he acted most strange. He did not seem to recognize me. When I walked closer to him, he screamed and there was a blast of energy. I believe that’s what knocked me unconscious.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Damian sees movement. He glances around the room again and- there. Under the dresser. A person. Damian gets closer and sees his past self, hiding with one of his old swords.

The younger version of him sees Damian and hisses. And then suddenly the kid is jumping out from his hiding spot and attacking. Damian tries his best to defend without actually hurting his younger self. After a minute of this, Father grabs the boy and holds down his arms, kicking the sword to the side.

“Let me go. Stop this. Let me go.” Damian’s younger counterpart cries over and over in a strange mix of Arabic and English, limbs flailing. His eyes are open but cloudy, like he’s not all here. Father just holds him closer.

Damian examines the boy, trying to find a reason for his odd behavior. But there’s nothing that he can see. Nothing that would cause  _ this _ .

Suddenly Damian’s younger self shifts in such a way that his shirt sleeve rides up. Damian sucks in a breath at what he sees. Because there, embedded in his past self’s shoulder is the device that sent Damian back in time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was really not feeling this chapter. I rewrote it at least twenty times from like every character's POV, but none of them worked, so I finally settled on Damian. That's why I ruined the pattern of one chapter Damian POV, one chapter other character POV. BTW if you liked this then,,, please,,, comment. I thrive off validation.


	5. Chapter 4

Bruce sits in a chair and stares down at his youngest son. They’d had to sedate Damian on the way to the Batcave, if only to stop him from getting even more worked up than he already was. However, it didn’t seem like his sleep was at all restful. Damian was thrashing around on the cot, muttering under his breath.

Bruce looked up as the door opened. In walked Redbird- Damian- Redbird. The rest of the kids had dispersed, off to their day jobs and responsibilities, but it wasn’t like Redbird had anywhere to go.

“Are you a meta?” Bruce asked. Maybe his tone was a little more suspicious than it should have been, but he was worried. Alfred was still recovering from whatever it was that had knocked him unconscious, and J’onn had said it would be at least an hour until he could come to check out Damian.

“No,” Redbird said. He had somehow gotten a change of clothes, and was dressed in a plain shirt and jeans instead of his Nightwing costume.

And wasn’t that just another can of worms. Nightwing. Bruce couldn’t imagine Dick ever giving it up, even “indisposed” as Redbird claimed. After all, Dick had not reacted well to Bruce passing Robin on. But no, that was different, wasn’t it. That was Bruce taking away something that  _ belonged  _ to Dick, and just giving it away like it was nothing.

“Then what do you think caused this?”

“The device must have done something to m- him when it sent me back here.” Redbird is avoiding Bruce’s eyes.

“Redbird,” Bruce starts, then pauses. “Damian-”

“I was a child.” Redbird interrupts.

“What?” Bruce can’t follow Redbird’s train of thought.

“That is something I’ve never really been able to acknowledge, but sitting here, I can see it. I was a child, but I never had a childhood. I was a child and I died. I was a child and I killed. I was a child and my father looked at me as if I was nothing more than a weapon.” 

Guilt fills Bruce. That is what he’s been doing, even though he’s never consciously recognized it. But what is he supposed to do? Damian is as damaged as all his other kids were- are, but he’s the only one unwilling to learn. To do better. Bruce is at a complete loss on how to help him.

“Damian-,” Bruce starts again. But he can’t think of how to continue, so he just lets the name hang there.

They sit awkwardly for a few minutes before the silence is broken by a scream.

“Mother,” Damian- the one on the bed- calls, “Mother, call him off.”

Bruce looks over at Redbird and sees him wince. Bruce takes note of it. After a second, Damian’s screaming stops.

The rest of the hour passes quickly. Neither Bruce nor Redbird want to talk, so they don’t.

Finally, the door opens and J’onn steps in. He walks towards the cot and seems to establish some kind of mental link. After a few tense seconds, J’onn breaks the link and turns to face Bruce.

“Damian is trapped in his own timestream.”   
  


“What does that mean?” Redbird is the one to ask.

“He is reliving each moment of his life, past, present, and future, at the exact same time.”   
  


“And the device?” Bruce asks.

“It appears to be alien in origin. Some sort of weapon. I also believe it to be the source of these powers you described. I will look more into this. For now, there is not much I can do for the boy. Contact me if his situation worsens.”

Bruce nods and J’onn leaves. 

There is more silence and Bruce is getting a little sick of it. He is used to silence, and enjoys it, but not when his children are concerned. Not when his kid is obviously hurting and Bruce knows it’s somehow his fault.

“What’s your favorite color?”

Redbird looks up at Bruce in surprise, “What?”   
  


“I just realized I’ve never really gotten to know who you are. So, what’s your favorite color?”

The confusion on Redbird’s face hurts. It’s like Redbird can’t even imagine Bruce wanting to know about him. Nevertheless, Redbird answers.

“Green. It’s green.”   
  


“That’s a good choice. Now you might think my favorite color is black, but it’s actually…”

They continue talking for a long time. Bruce asks questions about harmless things. Things that wouldn’t destroy the time stream if they became known. And bit by bit, Redbird starts opening up.

“So then I told Maya-,” Redbird suddenly pauses in the middle of his story.

“What is it?” Bruce asks.

“Nothing, it’s just-. Me and you, we’ve never really just sat down and talked. Not like this.”

A shiver runs down Bruce’s back. What kind of dad is he if he doesn’t even take time out of his day to talk with his youngest son.

“I’m sorry.”   
  


“No it’s not- it’s fine. I know you- he loves me. It’s just that there’s always something more important. Something else going on, you know?”

Bruce knows. He’s spent a lot of time thinking that. Using it as an excuse. But all that’s ever done is push everyone he cares about away. Bruce makes a silent vow to himself to stop doing it in the future. Before he loses the people he cares about, for good.

“Nothing’s more important than family.” Bruce says.

Redbird smiles softly and goes back to his story. It’s some tale about baby teeth and an invisible girl. Bruce isn’t sure he believes it (a lot of details have obviously been changed), but Redbird looks- not exactly happy, but lighter. 

Bruce looks down at the cot where Damian is still lying, trapped in his own mind. Then he looks up at where Redbird has moved on to talking about his dragon(?) which he apparently named Wiggles. They still have a lot of things to figure out. How to get the device away from Damian, how to send Redbird back to his own time. But right here, right now.

Bruce counts this as a win.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update. My life got very hectic recently. Also, I set out to write angst but somehow managed to write this because I'm soft. However, we will be back to our regularly scheduled sadness soon (at least if I'm able to write between school, guard, and orchestra :/).


	6. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Damian has a panic attack in this chapter. It starts at the line "Damian feels a little faint" and ends at the line "Great job"

Damian feels almost happy. For the first time in… ever, he had an actual conversation with his father. No lies, no masks, just talking. 

So of course, since Damian can never be content in his life, something has to ruin his mood. In this case, that something comes in the form of a trip to the supermarket.

Damian doesn’t need to go, of course. He will get back to his own time soon if the alien is at all competent. And he probably wouldn’t be able to bring groceries back anyways. But staying cooped up in the Manor is boring. Especially since none of his pets are there yet, and aside from Father, none of the family will talk to him. So, for lack of anything better to do, Damian snags Alfred’s shopping list and some money and heads to the store.

He glances over the list. Apples, pears, chickpeas, Oreos, pasta, bandages, etc. Easy. Damian strolls through the aisles and grabs things off the shelves, grimacing as he notices some of the expiration dates. He’s debating whether a two dollar can of soup is really better than a fifty cents can when he hears someone yell.

“Duke, we have to go!.” A woman crosses into Damian’s line of sight. She looks vaguely familiar.

“Which notebook should I get?” A teenager walks over, holding some school supplies.

Damian feels a little faint because that’s Duke. His brother. And if that’s Duke, then the woman is Elaine Thomas. And Gotham is such a big city that Damian hadn’t expected to see Duke’s family at all. Hadn’t even considered it a possibility. But Duke’s mom is here and not Jokerized yet. And Damian can save her. But he can’t. He can’t. He-

“Are you alright?” The woman- Ms. Thomas asks. Damian realizes that she’s talking to him.

Damian looks around and, oh wow, he’s sitting down. When did that happen. And why can’t he stop shaking. Damian’s heart is thumping so fast it feels like it might leap out of his chest. He thinks he might be dying again.

“Mom, what’s happening?” Duke is speaking. His voice sounds far away.

“I think he’s having a panic attack. Why don’t you go look at the comics?” Duke leaves, and Elaine crouches down in front of Damian.

She’s blurry, but Damian can see that her face is calm. He doesn’t know how she can not be freaking out when everything’s  _ wrong _ .

“Hello. My name’s Elaine. Why don’t you breathe with me?”

Ms. Thomas takes some slow, deep breaths. Damian matches his to hers. And it might be seconds or minutes or even hours later, but eventually things shift back into place.

“Great job.” Ms Thomas smiles. She stands up and reaches out a hand to Damian. He takes it and pulls himself up.

“Has that ever happened to you before?” Ms. Thomas asks.

“No.” Damian says.

It’s a lie, but hopefully Ms. Thomas can’t tell. The first time Damian had a panic attack was the first time he looked in a mirror after coming back from the dead. The sight of his own face, so much like the Heretic’s, would send him spiraling. But Damian had pushed it down, repressed the memory of his death so it would stop hurting him. 

“You don’t have to be ashamed.” Ms. Thomas says. Damian remembers Duke saying that she was- is skilled at figuring out when people are lying.

“I guess.” Damian answers. More to fill the silence than anything else.

“Do you know what triggered it?” She sounds worried. Which Damian can understand.

Damian doesn’t say anything. He can’t exactly just tell Ms. Thomas ‘I know your future, and I could prevent it, but I can’t actually since it might mess up the timestream.’

Instead Damian asks a question of his own. “Why do you stay here. In Gotham?”

Ms. Thomas looks surprised. But she must decide to humor him since she answers. “This is my home.”

“But don’t you ever think about leaving? Something could happen to you here.” Maybe if Damian can’t outright say anything, he can hint at it. But even as he has the thought, he can tell it’s not true.

“I’ve stayed through countless super villain attacks and alien invasions. I’m also a social worker. Believe me, I know how terrible Gotham can be. But this city can also be beautiful in the right light.”

“But-”

Ms. Thomas cuts him off. “I can see why you’d be worried about Gotham. But I wouldn’t have raised my son here if it wasn’t worth it.”

She looks over at Duke, who is currently looking disapprovingly at some dinosaur figurines, and smiles. It’s soft but also protective. Damian has some hazy memories of his own mother looking at him like that. He also remembers when she stopped. 

Damian wants to tell her. Wants to save Duke the pain of losing his parents, but he can’t. And that’s that. Damian shouldn’t even be considering it in the first place. 

He wonders if he’ll be able to face Duke when he gets back, knowing he had the chance to save Duke’s parents and didn’t take it. What will Duke say when Damian tells him. Will he condemn Damian and abandon him like everyone else, or agree that this is for the best. 

Damian is actually glad that Duke isn’t here. That his brother doesn’t have to be the one to make this decision. Because Damian  _ knows  _ Duke, and Duke would never choose his own happiness over others’. Even if it tore him up from the inside. Damian kind of hates that he doesn’t know the same about himself. 

Ms. Thomas opens her mouth to say something, but her phone buzzes with a text. She checks it and frowns. She looks up at Damian.

“I have to go now. Will you be okay?”

“Yes.” Damian says. 

It’s another lie, and Ms. Thomas frowns. Nevertheless, she walks over to Duke and they go to checkout. Damian watches them until they’re out of sight.

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be an actual plot soon. I might not know what it is yet, but it'll be there.


End file.
